Non-volatile memory devices are well known to those having skill in the art, and are capable of retaining stored information even when not powered. One widely used non-volatile memory device is a flash memory device that can be erased one block at a time. The design of non-volatile memory devices, including flash memory devices, is well known to those having skill in the art, and need not be described further herein. Unfortunately, in non-volatile memory devices such as flash memory devices, it may be difficult to efficiently read data while an erase operation is being performed.
FIG. 1 is a conceptual view for explaining a conventional data read method by a non-volatile memory device during a multi-sector erase operation. In FIG. 1, it is assumed that the non-volatile memory device includes eight banks, each of which includes a plurality of sectors.
In FIG. 1, if it is assumed that data is currently being erased from a sector ES, data of a sector RS1, from which data is not yet erased, can be read by the non-volatile memory device. However, only status data can be read from the remaining sectors, for example, a sector RS2 of a bank BANK1 including a sector LS1 from which data has already been erased. That is, in the conventional data read method, only after all sectors, which are to be erased, are erased, can data of the remaining sectors, for example, the sector RS2 of the bank BANK1 including the sector LS1, from which data is already erased, be read.